The teenage years, possibly more than any other time in life, are the times of major change. The teen no longer feels or looks like a child and not an adult either.
Being a teenager, your body is going through big changes. Almost all teenagers occasionally lack confidence and self esteem. Some hide it better than others; you may be surprised to discover that many of the teens you admire also lack self confidence and self esteem.
A healthy self esteem and confidence can give teens the ability to resist peer pressure and deal with uncertainties of life.
A lot of teens tend to look at other people and feel inferior to them, believing they are not good enough, or not as pretty or handsome as the other person. Such thoughts can lead to inferiority complex, depression and self doubts.
Not to worry though because it’s a phase that will pass, but while it lasts, there are a few things you can do to boost your confidence.
Ways of improving your confidence and self esteem
· The people in your life can affect how you feel about yourself; it could be your friends, parents, teachers and others. The trick therefore, is to surround yourself with positive people; persons that will make you feel good about yourself and not feel inferior.
· The things you say to yourself play a big part in how you feel about yourself. Thinking that “I’m a loser” or “I’m not smart enough” hurts your self esteem and your confidence. You have to learn to think better about yourself and of yourself no matter what you may be going through. By doing so, you improve your self confidence.
· Not accepting the way they are is also one major problem many teens have. They want to look like someone else or be like someone else, so they strive hard to imitate the person they want to look like and tend to ‘hate’ how they are. This is wrong. As a teenager, you need to love and accept yourself for who you are and how you are created and not look down on yourself.
· Seeking for advice and help from the right people could also help. When you do not know what to do at a certain point in your teenage life, you should ask for help or advice so you do not end up making the wrong choices and regretting them later on, Never feel like you can do it all on your own, we all need help at one point in our life.
· Bear in mind, nobody is created physically perfect. So focus on your good qualities; what do you like most about yourself? Discover it, build on it and project it. Make it your unique selling point and take off your mind from the ‘flaws.’ Besides, that thing you consider as a flaw may well be what another person envies you for, just as that thing you so admire in another person may be what they would rather not have.
It’s not a perfect world and you are not expected to be perfect.
Learn to accept yourself for who you are and love who you are more. Be proud of yourself and your accomplishments, stop looking down on yourself.
Always feel that you are valuable and important and no matter what, you are the best amongst the rest.
